Park Edwards
Veteran
Quick pics off my phone of the d90 sort of supped up. Need a lens hood to fill the gap from the lens to the matte box.
D90 setup/rig
- Thread starter Park Edwards
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bronxjragon
Well-known member
can u go completely handheld or is it too heavy/uncomfortable after a while? bad@ss by the way
dvpixl
Veteran
1. it is, i believe, most of the time to look professional and cool.
2. the rails aid in supporting heavier and longer lens.
Park Edwards
Veteran
Rails can attach all kinds of stuff...noga arm for a monitor and some other stuff if needed.
Matte box is also for gels/filters and to block out unwanted light. I haven't ordered the french flag, but a matte box with flags on the side and top that's allows you to control light from coming in better than your traditional hood. and like the other guy said, it looks cool.
Park Edwards
Veteran
it's a pretty light setup. i could do some handheld, but wouldn't do it too long. it does weigh it down enough to control some of the shake. i'm getting a shoulder mount here in the next few weeks that'll be pretty nice. i'll post some footage up when i get it.
bronxjragon
Well-known member
if im convervative, whats the cheapest i can get all of that for? i know the cavision setup is fairly cheap on b & h. the matte box is whats killer
Park Edwards
Veteran
rails you probably won't find any cheaper than $99.00..
The matte box I got lucky and bought from a fellow dvxuser for $110...but they sell for $164 new. looking around and ebay would probably be the best bet. the follow focus i got from the Indian company. and rails from BH around $160.00. So it's gonna cost a decent buck, but I'd estimate at or around $300-$500.00
The matte box I got lucky and bought from a fellow dvxuser for $110...but they sell for $164 new. looking around and ebay would probably be the best bet. the follow focus i got from the Indian company. and rails from BH around $160.00. So it's gonna cost a decent buck, but I'd estimate at or around $300-$500.00
Park Edwards
Veteran
no idea when comparing them to other ones...this is my first follow focus. so to me it works like i think a follow focus should and that means it works good. definitely works good for me.
I would say a matte box is the most important when you have a big light setup around with really strong lighting. Flare is usually well controlled in modern lenses if you stop down one stop (old nikon primes @ f1.4, maybe not so much), unless you have a strong light source in the frame, in which case a matte box won't help anyway.
Please note I have no experience yet myself, so I could be wrong.
Please note I have no experience yet myself, so I could be wrong.
Ralph Oshiro
Veteran
Wow, Car3o! You really know how to shop around! Which matte box is that for only $164? Also, would you mind sharing the source of the Indian follow-focus rig? Thanks! Looks cool!
Actually, I f****n' LOVE lens flare. But, sure, unwanted stray light creeping into your lens will definitely lower your contrast, an often undesired result. Seriously, at first I was enticed by one of those "fancy" folllow-focus/matte box rigs, too. But when I first got my D90, I happened to snap it into a Stroboframe quick-release plate that I have mounted onto an inexpensive shoulder mount, the kind designed for DVX100-sized DV cameras, and it works . . . PERFECTLY! Now, I just ordered one of these 3x magnifying loupes from Hoodman, and I plan to atttach that to the D90's EVF (probably with some lame gaff-tape/Velcro rigging or something). So now the problem is, I need to re-position the height of the D90 up by a few inches so that the EVF is more eye-level on the mount to accommodate the more limited eye-relief distance of the loupe. I like the idea of the Hoodman loupe (as opposed to an external HDMI monitor as an accessory EVF) because: 1. It's an optical device. 2. It's small. 3. It doesn't need power. 4. It keeps the form factor of the rig still in the DSLR realm.
For the matte box deal, I'm going with probably a medium-format bellows (like the one made for the Mamiya RB/RZ67) or the Lee. Compact. Functional. Not too expensive. The point is . . . I DON'T want my D90 to look like a movie camera! Because I'm often shooting in locations that I have absolutely no permission to shoot in. Actually, I'm probably also going to go with a Cokin X-PRO size, full set of NDs and ND grads. Since I rarely use filters anyway, an expensive matte box (and its uber-expensive, large, glass filters) really isn't necessary for my needs, and I think the Cokin stuff is actually just fine. Not that my needs are the same as everyone else's . . . I'm looking for economy, stealth, and compact form factor. The Mamiya/Lee bellows, plus a Cokin X-PRO set of NDs, ND grads and mounts, should do just fine for me. Just another suggestion . . .
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squig
Veteran
Ooh I like that Mamiya, very retro. It looks like something from the great depression. Very appropriate for our time. One of these indie rail riser plates might do the trick for ya Ralph http://www.indifocus.com/products_indirailspro.htm
The Indian follow focus is on ebay, I'm looking at getting one myself. The matte box is a cavision. Cavision also have a sunshade that's the same size for $85 with a metal mount or $50 with a plastic one. It takes a french flag too. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/310722-REG/Cavision_LH100M_LH100M_Sunshade.html
I think you'll find it looks like a movie camera with the Mamiya, but if you wanna sneak around you could try something like this-
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/52mm-3-stage...3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:1|39:1|240:1318
The Indian follow focus is on ebay, I'm looking at getting one myself. The matte box is a cavision. Cavision also have a sunshade that's the same size for $85 with a metal mount or $50 with a plastic one. It takes a french flag too. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/310722-REG/Cavision_LH100M_LH100M_Sunshade.html
I think you'll find it looks like a movie camera with the Mamiya, but if you wanna sneak around you could try something like this-
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/52mm-3-stage...3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:1|39:1|240:1318
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squig
Veteran
There's a Mamiya bellows on ebay going for $42 http://cgi.ebay.com/Mamiya-645PRO-B...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
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Ralph Oshiro
Veteran
Wow! Great resources! That first link is EXACTLY what I need! And, this stuff is so cheap! I mean, inexpensive . . . affordable! I didn't realize the Cavision stuff was so affordably priced as well. Thanks a lot for posting those links!
Hey, thanks! SOLD! Just clicked "Buy it now!" A steal at $42 USD--they're $249 USD retail! Gonna slap that sucker on my Nikkor 35mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.2, and 55mm f/2.8 Micro as my "standard," on-all-the-time lens shade! Love how "compact" this set-up allows me to be. Plus, bellows-type lens shades can't be beat for trapping reflected and stray light! Also, you get the added caché of that cool retro look, too! Thanks for all your help!
Crap! I love those too!
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squig
Veteran
hehe, you're welcome. I would have bought it myself but they don't ship to Australia. There seems to be a few of them around. I saw one with what looks like brass metal bits on the outside....uber retro. I can't wait to get my rig together. I'm going with the cavision shoulder rig and the mamiya. I just have to get the mamiya before the DVX/D90 user ebay bidding war starts!
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pveal
Well-known member
Car3o, my lens hood is probably about as long as yours as my follow focus is also in a similair position and I notice some vignetting using the 28mm. Perhaps I should increase the girth of my hood (cut a new hood) but it seems to be a similair girth to that Mamyia hood that Ralph Oshiro just grabbed on ebay. Anyway, i was wondering if you had vignetting problems due to the length of the hood. It's either my girth or length. thanks
squig
Veteran
My understanding is that lenses wider than 50mm will suffer from vignetting with hoods (other than nikon spec hoods). But I'm far from being an expert on such matters. I bought a couple of these http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160304244762 for connecting my primes to the bellows (just guessing they will fit ok) and for mounting on my wide angle lenses. They haven't arrived yet so I'll report back when I get everything connected. If the rubber hoods won't mate to the bellows I might get my girlfriend to make a copy of the zacuto elasticated job. I want a super8 look for some stuff I'm shooting so some vignetting will be cool.